I've never heard of a lutino galah! Had to google them to see what they look like. Yick! Not my cup of tea at all. I've known some hybrids between a Galah and a Corella. They were pallid versions of the Galah colouring with the Corella's head and crest shape. They also had hardly any voice and 'whispered' when they made sounds. One of these birds lived in our local petshop and its cage was always by the door. It would whisper at you as you came in: 'I'm sorry. We're closed'.

I think it's a shame when people breed weird and wonderful colours of birds (just my own opinion). I like the original colours best!

I've never heard of a lutino galah! Had to google them to see what they look like. Yick! Not my cup of tea at all. I've known some hybrids between a Galah and a Corella. They were pallid versions of the Galah colouring with the Corella's head and crest shape. They also had hardly any voice and 'whispered' when they made sounds. One of these birds lived in our local petshop and its cage was always by the door. It would whisper at you as you came in: 'I'm sorry. We're closed'.

I think it's a shame when people breed weird and wonderful colours of birds (just my own opinion). I like the original colours best!

Hybrids between the various corella species and galah are quite common here, and not ridiculously expensive (around AUD400 for hand-raised). Given how closely the corellas and galahs live, I'd not be surprised if they hybridise in the wild, too. I personally like them and would dearly love to own one, although our house is becoming more like a zoo every day. I share your dislike of the lutino galah though, not my cup of tea either. Especially if they were thousands of $$$! I've attached a pic from the web of a hybrid- gorgeous, and those I've met have a sweet temperament, too.

Yes, they are gorgeous! I notice in your pic, the bird has bluish skin around the eye. I haven't seen that before! So pretty! Have you experienced the whispering voice, Mike17? I only ask because I've encountered it twice and both times in Galah/Corella hybrids.

Ha, I forgot you were in Oz, Betrisher! I've heard a few hybrids talking, and none of them were loud There's one that has been in pet shop in Perth for years, missing lower beak, it's very quiet. The blue around the eye comes from the corella in the mix. Our Little Corella has a distinct blue area... I think Americans call them the "bare-eyed cockatoo" or somesuch. In the last year, I've seen my first long-billed corella/galah hybrid, the beak is mid-way in length, quite a pretty bird.

Hey Mike17 - wow, fancy a Long-billed Corella/Galah hybrid! I never thought of that. I agree with you that some hybridising must go on in nature because we get lots of Galahs mixed in with the big Corella flocks that live nearby. It's funny... since the big white cockatoo flocks have moved in, the Galahs seem to be moving slowly away. You don't see flocks of them like you used to: just the odd two or four, often with Corellas. Hmmm...

Also, when I started bird-watching about forty or so years ago, you threw a party if you ever saw a lone Long-billed Corella. Now, they're everywhere! Which is good. But I wonder what makes them come and go into an area over the years?

Is it just me, or do you also find it funny to see 'Rose-breasted Cockatoo' used to describe a Galah? Makes me LOL!

Hey Mike17 - wow, fancy a Long-billed Corella/Galah hybrid! I never thought of that. I agree with you that some hybridising must go on in nature because we get lots of Galahs mixed in with the big Corella flocks that live nearby. It's funny... since the big white cockatoo flocks have moved in, the Galahs seem to be moving slowly away. You don't see flocks of them like you used to: just the odd two or four, often with Corellas. Hmmm...

Also, when I started bird-watching about forty or so years ago, you threw a party if you ever saw a lone Long-billed Corella. Now, they're everywhere! Which is good. But I wonder what makes them come and go into an area over the years?

Is it just me, or do you also find it funny to see 'Rose-breasted Cockatoo' used to describe a Galah? Makes me LOL!

Yeah, I think those "descriptive" names are rather boring and silly when the birds have a perfectly nice "native" name (presumably from one of the many Aboriginal languages in the case of the galah). I like "28" for one of the races of the Port Lincoln Parrot, since that's their call! We get them around here although strictly speaking it's the Pilbara something-or-other since 28s are further south. At my last posting in NSW they were Mallee Ringnecks. Over here quarrions are called weero/weiro and I suspect that's an onamatapoeic name like 28.

As for the long-bills, when I was last at Bird World in NW Sydney there were dozens hanging around under the cages and on the grounds... where they were out of their natural range, but attracted by changes in land use (farming, market gardens and horse paddocks) plus of course all the free bird food! They also inhabit golf courses, and as they are diggers (liking roots, bulbs etc) they are rather unpopular with golfers (and greenkeepers). They are a pest in WA, too, and often shot, WA is well outside their natural range, apparently they are naturalised in Tasmania, too (Yay!!). So, like other bird species specifically and many non-bird species generally, they can be advantaged by human land-use changes or disadvantaged either by land clearance (loss of habitat and/or food source), direct predation (yummy to eat) or feral animals/birds.